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Complaint upheld after UCD student asked to pay almost €500 more in fees than advertised

Outdated fee information had been listed on UCD’s School of Medicine website.

THE ADVERTISING STANDARDS Authority for Ireland (ASAI) has upheld a complaint made against University College Dublin (UCD) over the cost of a masters course.

Details on the UCD School of Medicine website for a two-year part-time masters course in Clinical and Translational Research outlined that year one and year two of the course both cost €4,060 respectively.

However, the person who complained said that it came to the attention of both her classmates and herself that when signing up to the second year of the course, through the internal student website, that the fees had increased to €4,475 without any prior notice.

The complainant said that the increase in fees was so significant that it was a possibility that some students would be unable to complete their masters course.

In a response to the complaint, UCD said that the fees information on the website was only intended as a guideline.

The university said the information in relation to fees was also set out on the UCD Fees website to which students were also directed.

It said this website “clearly states that fees can be subject to change from one year to the next”.

UCD confirmed that €4,060 was the correct EU fee for students who registered in year one and year two in 2016/2017 and €4,475 was the correct EU fee for students who registered in year one and year two in 2017/2018.

It said the higher rate of €4,475 had been correctly applied to the complainant’s case.

The ASAI noted:

The university believed that the information held on the School of Medicine website was accurate at the time of publication and there had been no intention to mislead students in relation to possible fee increases from one year to the next.
It accepted, however, that information provided on its website may have been misinterpreted.

As a “gesture of goodwill”, the university agreed to charge the lower 2016/2017 fee rather than the higher charge.

In addition, UCD said it had removed all fee-related information from the School of Medicine website and promotional material, and now referred students to the UCD Fees website, in order to avoid any future misunderstandings.

While the ASAI noted that UCD had decided to charge the lower advertised fee, it noted that the authority’s guidelines required that if a price was stated in a marketing communication, it should relate to the product depicted or specified.

Read: Complaint about ‘misleading’ online ad for Cork IVF clinic upheld

More: Bank ad ordered to be changed after child shown wearing puffy jacket in car seat

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    Mute Phil O' Meara
    Favourite Phil O' Meara
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    Jun 18th 2015, 8:27 PM

    What? Again! This Oldest Person in the World title is nothing but a poisoned chalice…..

    575
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    Mute Rashers Tierney
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    Jun 18th 2015, 8:42 PM

    Phil, that really was a cracker – kudos :-D

    113
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    Mute Egg Head
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    Jun 18th 2015, 8:32 PM

    Kathleen looks phenomenal for 113! She looks better than I do manys a Sunday morning!

    239
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    Mute jason bourne
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    Jun 19th 2015, 12:28 AM

    And you’re only 109!

    34
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    Mute Glenard
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    Jun 18th 2015, 8:29 PM

    Spanning 3 centuries.
    RIP

    151
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    Mute Ted Logan
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    Jun 18th 2015, 9:39 PM

    Can’t be many left to do so. RIP

    50
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    Mute Eamon Mac Gowan
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    Jun 18th 2015, 10:06 PM

    Just two people left who were born in the 1800′s, I am not a sentimental person but I think it’s a wonderful thing that they are still with us. When the last one dies I hope it will be treated as an extraordinary human event.

    144
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    Mute Tap Solny
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    Jun 18th 2015, 8:39 PM

    Actually the world’s oldest person is still alive, but that distinction is no longer held by Jerlean Talley.

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    Mute Shawn Rahoon
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    Jun 18th 2015, 9:53 PM

    The world’s oldest person will never die!

    73
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    Mute Paul P O'Sullivan
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    Jun 18th 2015, 9:00 PM

    Pretty soon there won’t be any person on Earth left who was born in the 19th Century

    74
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    Mute Martin Harte
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    Jun 18th 2015, 9:01 PM

    I bet she has seen some great things in her lifetime

    42
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    Mute Keith Masterson
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    Jun 18th 2015, 9:26 PM

    rip , the history that woman seen is unbelievable…

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    Mute Bearsass Hairyarse
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    Jun 18th 2015, 9:26 PM

    Meh… I’ve woke up with worse!

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
    Favourite Neal Ireland Hello
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    Jun 19th 2015, 3:30 AM

    This is very disheartening but predictable.

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    Mute M
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    Jun 19th 2015, 3:21 AM

    Jaysus theres people dying now never died before.

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    Mute Sean Reynolds
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    Jun 19th 2015, 9:56 AM

    Yep, it’s a bit morbid keeping tabs on the super-centenarians, but it is interesting to note that we shall soon approach the point where the eldest person on the planet will have been born in the 20th century. There will be nobody left who was born in the late 1800′s.

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    Mute Stephen Earle
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    Jun 19th 2015, 4:21 AM

    I bet she was a smoker !!

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    Mute Ken Fallon
    Favourite Ken Fallon
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    Jun 19th 2015, 10:53 AM

    Gone too soon.

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